Why Oil Companies Leave So Much Money Downhole

Everybody chases the drill bit, but the real money can hide in wells that have produced for years. D.J. Snyder left drilling and completions to chase what nobody wanted to touch: production. His company Vannevar builds downhole tools that squeeze more oil out of wells already in the ground, using a marginal gains mindset borrowed from F1 and the Tour de France. Chuck gets into frac plugs, pumper routes, why nobody shuts in a well to fix it, and how AI could give operators one source of truth.Click here to watch a video of this episode.Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.ioClick here to view the episode transcript. 00:00   Meet D.J. Snyder01:05   From drilling to the overlooked world of production02:47   Old tech, new problems: gas, sand, and horizontal wells06:24   Physical widgets and the marginal gains mindset08:32   Why there's no one size fits all13:00   Heresy: actually watch and fix your wells16:57   The AI promise of one source of truth18:43   Rethinking the pumper's daily route22:57   War stories, the Bakken, and naming tools25:18   ROI, payback, and how you really sell it28:25   Who to call, what it costs, and building a company36:03   How AI reshapes the work itself38:16   Robots, drones, and the future of the field40:14   Why boards say yes and value beats cheap44:53   Wrap up and where to find DJhttps://twitter.com/collide_aihttps://www.tiktok.com/@collide.iohttps://www.facebook.com/collide.iohttps://www.instagram.com/collide.iohttps://www.youtube.com/@collide_iohttps://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.socialhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai